It occurred to me today that we should have blinders on, like they used to put on horses.

I happen to believe that we do too much looking around. We lack focus. The blinders on the horse’s bridle are meant to keep the horse looking forward. Sometimes I wonder if we shouldn’t be restricted in what we’re looking at as well.

Let’s think of some examples:

1) The past, the present, and the future. Putting the scant wisdom of a) planning for the future and b) learning from the past to the side for a moment, let’s think about all of the human effort and time that has been wasted when we lose our focus on the present. Worriers worry about futures that never come and the high school quarterback who never went to college and works in the local factory can’t stop thinking about what could’ve been. You get the idea. We need blinders! Today is the day that you have. Tomorrow is gone (wave goodbye and walk away) and tomorrow may not be coming (so stop your intricate planning), but we have the RIGHT NOW and we usually spend the RIGHT NOW looking backward or forward. What a waste!

2) Looking at each other. The significant amount of comparison work that we do when we look at others and think things like, “Man, if only I made as much money as that guy”, or “I wish I was as pretty as she is”, or “Yeah, I’m a drunk, but at least I don’t beat my wife like that drunk down the street”. We need blinders! Comparing ourselves to each other, the vast majority of the time, DOES NOT LEAD TO ANYTHING POSITIVE. I could try to blame social media for this, but this problem has been around for a lot longer than the internet (although our inter-connectivity isn’t making it any better). The pretty people and the funny people and the popular people and the talented people and the rich people –> they’re all still people!! Broken and hurting and incomplete and lacking and our wasted time looking at them and wishing to be them is the height of futility.

3) The news, especially as it relates to matter of little or no consequence. And yes, I’m speaking of politics. I’m becoming more and more convinced that the three-ring-circus of 1) the mass media, 2) party politics, and 3) the advertising machine is nothing but a distraction that keeps us from doing the things that we ought to be doing. We need blinders! I myself have recently decided, as much as possible, to stick with local news sources and as little mass media as possible. Of course, we’ll see how that works out. Have you ever wondered whether or not this particular set of distractions is being used as a tool to keep Americans, who have the energy and drive and creativity to start moving our world forward again, so distracted that we can’t rock the boat.

Horses, as you’re probably aware, have an eye on each lateral side of their face. Because of this, and because of a little thing called peripheral vision, horses GET DISTRACTED BY WHAT’S GOING ON AROUND THEM if they don’t have blinders on. When a horse is pulling a plow or pulling a carriage, we need to keep them from getting distracted for the safety of the people behind the horse.

Of course, I’m not really suggesting that we be made to wear blinders to keep our vision focused in the right direction –> this is metaphorical. We do get distracted and sidetracked and we lose productivity and time when it happens. When I go into my phone to check my account balance on my bank account, but twenty minutes later, I still haven’t checked my account balance but I’ve scrolled Facebook and I’ve checked the national news outlets and I’ve posted on Reddit; then I realize what has happened and I get back on track so I can check my account balance.

You know you do it, too.

The crooner John Mayer had a popular song, “Waiting on the World to Change”. I don’t see that happening here –> our world is heading in the wrong direction in a lot of ways and the myriad options that we have for getting distracted isn’t going to go down anytime soon. So, instead, we are going to have to tackle this particular issue ourselves. You must decide that you are going to carve out some of the distractions in your life. Uninstall the apps on your phone that encourage you to compare yourselves to others for no particular constructive purpose, stop spending time thinking about what could have been rather than using that time for a purpose today, take back the control that you give away to mass media and decided that you are going to focus on what is important rather than what’s not.

And, if you figure out how to do these things, reach out and clue me in.